Burnaby Public Library or BPL is a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

that serves Burnaby, British Columbia and the surrounding

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 Canadia ...

. According to its 2019-2022 strategic plan, BPL aims to "empower the community to engage with and share stories, ideas and information." BPL provides access to information services and library collections (including books, DVDs, newspapers, magazines and research materials) through its four branches as well as online and through community outreach.

Services

BPL provides a broad range of services and programs that reflect the needs of its community. The following list is a small sample of the regular services available: *Information and reference services *Access to full text databases *Community information *Internet access * Readers' advisory services *Storytimes for babies, toddlers and preschoolers *Programs for children, youth, adults and seniors *Newcomer services including English as an additional language supports *Delivery to homebound individuals * Interlibrary loan *Free downloadable audiobooks *Movie nights *"Book bike" mobile library outreach *Philosophers' Cafe series, in partnership with Simon Fraser University

History

Burnaby's first library was founded in 1927 as the North Burnaby Library Association with members paying one dollar to use a collection of 397 books. The first actual library building was established on East Hastings Street in 1935. In 1954, a municipal

bylaw A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...

was enacted to officially establish the Burnaby Public Library. After merging with the North Burnaby Library Association in 1957, BPL's first permanent library building, the McGill Branch, was built in North Burnaby in 1961. The branch was named after Grace McGill, a volunteer with the North Burnaby Library Association since its 1927 inception. The Kingsway branch was established in 1962 followed by the Central Park branch in 1974 and the Cameron branch in 1980. In 1991, the Central Park branch was replaced by the Bob Prittie Metrotown branch, BPL's current central branch. The branch is named in honour of former Burnaby teacher, MP, alderman, mayor and library board member Robert "Bob" Prittie. In 2001, the current 27,000 square-foot McGill branch was completed. In 2009, the Kingsway branch was closed and replaced with the Tommy Douglas branch. The branch is named after Canadian politician Tommy Douglas, who served as the Member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

for the now-defunct Burnaby—Coquitlam district from 1962 to 1968.

Branches

The library has four branches: * Bob Prittie Metrotown - : As of 2012, this 61,000 square foot branch holds 383,771 items and serves as BPL's main research library with a reference collection that includes local and provincial historical materials, legal and business information, car repair manuals The branch features 21 public internet stations and three stations for accessing the library's database collection. * McGill - : This 20,000 square foot branch holds 159,704 items as of 2012, and features 16 public internet stations and three stations dedicated to accessing BPL's database collection. The City of Burnaby Archives, Burnaby's official repository for municipal records dating back to 1892, occupies a 4,000-square-foot space adjacent to the McGill branch. * Tommy Douglas - : The Tommy Douglas branch is 17,500 square feet and holds 84,568 items as of 2012. Opened on November 21, 2009, this building replaces the old Kingsway branch. The branch features 34 public internet stations, which includes six children's terminals. This branch is also home to Bibliotech, BPL's creative technology lab which loans digital cameras, camcorders and tripods and provides access to computers with Photoshop,

iMovie iMovie (known at times as iMovie HD) is a preinstalled video editing application developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS devices. It was originally released in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled ...

Garageband GarageBand is a line of digital audio workstations developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices that allows users to create music or podcasts. GarageBand is developed by Apple for macOS, and was once part of the iLife software s ...

and other creative digital software. * Cameron - : As of 2012 this 5,000 square foot library holds 62,941 items and provides public internet and computer access via eight computer terminals. The branch was renovated in 2016.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Public libraries in British Columbia Buildings and structures in Burnaby Libraries established in 1954 1954 establishments in British Columbia Tourist attractions in Burnaby